Hunan cuisine


Hunan cuisine, also known as Xiang cuisine, consists of the cuisines of the Xiang River region, Dongting Lake and western Hunan Province in China. It is one of the Eight Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine and is well known for its hot and spicy flavours, fresh aroma and deep colours. Despite this, only about 20% of the cuisine uses capsicum to produce a strong spicy taste. Common cooking techniques include stewing, frying, pot-roasting, braising and smoking. Due to the high agricultural output of the region, many different ingredients are used in Hunan dishes.

History

The history of the cooking skills employed in Hunan cuisine dates back to the 17th century. The first mention of chili peppers in local gazettes in the province date to 1684, the 21st year of the Kangxi Emperor. During the course of its history, Hunan cuisine assimilated a variety of local forms, eventually evolving into its own style. Some well-known dishes include fried chicken with Sichuan spicy sauce and smoked pork with dried long green beans.
Hunan cuisine consists of three primary styles:
  • Xiang River style: Originating from Changsha, Xiangtan and Hengyang. The dishes are quite oily with a attractive colour, and the dishes are spicy, fresh, and have a strong aroma. Dishes include stir-fry chicken with chili, braised meat with black bean sauce and Changsha stinky tofu.
  • Dongting Lake style: Originating from Yueyang, Yiyang and Changde. This style is also oily but is also starchy, accompanied with spiciness and saltiness. Stewing is more common in this form of Hunan cuisine, and fish is commonly used too. Notable dishes include Dongting gold tortoise and lotus seedpods with crystal sugar.
  • Western Hunan style: Originating from Zhangjiajie, Jishou and Huaihua. Preserved meats and pickled vegetables are more commonly used. The taste is influenced by the ethnic minorities in the region, which results in a sour, spicy, and salty taste. Notable dishes include braised mushrooms and Xiangxi sour meat.

    Features

With its liberal use of chili peppers, shallots and garlic, Hunan cuisine is known for being gan la or purely hot, as opposed to Sichuan cuisine, to which it is often compared. Sichuan cuisine uses its distinctive ma la seasoning and other complex flavour combinations, frequently employs Sichuan pepper along with chilies which are often dried. It also utilises more dried or preserved ingredients and condiments. Hunan cuisine, on the other hand, is often spicier by pure chili content and contains a larger variety of fresh ingredients. Both Hunan and Sichuan cuisine are perhaps significantly oilier than the other cuisines in China, but Sichuan dishes are generally oilier than Hunan dishes. Another characteristic distinguishing Hunan cuisine from Sichuan cuisine is that Hunan cuisine uses smoked and cured goods in its dishes much more frequently.
Hunan cuisine's menu changes with the seasons. In a hot and humid summer, a meal will usually start with cold dishes or a platter holding a selection of cold meats with chilies for opening the pores and keeping cool in the summer. In winter, a popular choice is hot pot, thought to heat the blood in the cold months. A special hot pot called yuanyang huoguo is notable for splitting the pot into a spicy and a mild side. One of the classic dishes in Hunan cuisine served in restaurants and at home is farmer pepper fried pork. It is made with several common ingredients: pork belly, green pepper, fermented black beans and other spices.

List of notable dishes

EnglishTraditional ChineseSimplified ChinesePinyinNotes
Changsha-style rice vermicelli長沙米粉长沙米粉chǎngshā mǐfěn
Changde-style stewed beef with rice vermicelli常德牛肉粉常德牛肉粉chángdé niúròu fěn
Changsha stinky tofu長沙臭豆腐长沙臭豆腐chǎngshā chòu dòufu
Cured ham with cowpeas酸豆角炒臘肉酸豆角炒腊肉suān dòujiǎo chǎo làròu
Dong'an chicken東安子雞东安子鸡dōng'ān zǐjī
"Dry-wok" chicken乾鍋雞干锅鸡gānguō jī
Home-style tofu家常豆腐家常豆腐jiācháng dòufǔ
Lotus seeds in rock sugar syrup冰糖湘蓮冰糖湘莲bīngtáng xiānglián
Mao's braised pork毛氏紅燒肉毛氏红烧肉Máo shì hóngshāo ròu
Mala chicken麻辣子雞麻辣子鸡málà zǐjī
Mashed shrimp in lotus pod蓮藕蝦仁莲藕虾仁 lián'ǒu xiārén
Pearly meatballs珍珠肉丸珍珠肉丸zhēnzhū ròuwán
Pumpkin cake南瓜餅南瓜饼nánguā bǐng
Sautéed pork with chili pepper農家小炒肉农家小炒肉nóngjiā xiǎo chǎoròu
Smoky flavours steamed together臘味合蒸腊味合蒸làwèi hézhēng
Spare ribs steamed in bamboo竹筒蒸排骨竹筒蒸排骨zhútǒng zhēng páigǔ
Spicy crawfish香辣口味蝦香辣口味虾xiāng là kǒu wèi xiā
Steamed fish head in chili sauce剁椒蒸魚頭剁椒蒸鱼头duòjiāo zhēng yútóu
Stir-fried duck blood炒血鴨炒血鸭chǎoxuéyā
Stir-fried meat with douchi and chili peppers豆豉辣椒炒肉豆豉辣椒炒肉dòuchǐ làjiāo chǎoròu
Yongfeng chili sauce永豐辣醬永丰辣酱yǒng fēng làjiàng

A discussion of Hunan cuisine overall may list a number of piquant dishes, usually but not always very hot and spicy.